France will see its first gay weddings within days, after French President Francois Hollande signed a law Saturday authorizing marriage and adoption by same-sex couples and ending months of nationwide protests and wrenching debate.　 Hollande‘s office said he signed the bill Saturday morning, a day after the Constitutional Council struck down a challenge to the law and ruled it in line with France’s constitution.　 Hollande, a Socialist, had made legalizing gay marriage one of his campaign pledges

South Korean stocks closed 0.12 percent higher on Wednesday, as investors stayed on the sidelines amid a lack of market momentum and concerns over the weak yen, analysts said. The local currency lost ground against the U.S.dollar.   The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) added 2.43 points to finish at 1,971.26. Trading volume was light at 238.6 million shares worth 3.63 trillion won (US$3.25 billion) with gainers outpacing decliners 510 to 301.  "The market showed little movemen

 South Korean stocks traded 0.12 percent lower late Wednesday morning, paring earlier gains as large-cap exporters widened losses, analysts said.   The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) shed 2.36 points to 1,966.47 as of 11:20 a.m.    Top-cap Samsung Electronics dropped nearly 1 percent and POSCO, a leading steelmaker, dipped 1.3 percent.   Domestic-oriented stocks extended their gains, with state-run Korea Electric Power Corp. rising 0.16 percent and NHN Corp., the No. 1 Inter

South Korean stocks traded 0.86 percent higher late Tuesday morning, as blue-chip domestic shares led the gains in resistance to the weakening yen, analysts said.   The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) soared 16.76 points to 1,965.46 as of 11:20 a.m.   State-run electricity provider Korea Electric Power jumped 1.5 percent and smallest mobile carrier LG Uplus hiked 2.5 percent.   But financial issues fell, with No. 3 banking firm Hana Financial Group slipping 0.5 percent and Sa

South Korean Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se abruptly delayed his first press conference with domestic and foreign journalists, an official said Tuesday, amid a damaging scandal involving a now-fired presidential spokesman overallegations of sexual misconduct in the United States.   Yun had been scheduled to hold the press conference at 2:30 p.m. on Tuesday to brief about the results of President Park Geun-hye's visit to the U.S., but it was postponed until next Monday, the senior ministry officia

A team of ethics officials will travel together with President Park Geun-hye when she visits foreign countries to make sure that no traveling officials engage in any misconduct, such as the alleged sexual abuse by a now-firedspokesman, officials said Tuesday.   The top office came up with the measure as it reviewed the entire course of Park's visit to the United States last week during which then spokesman Yoon Chang-jung allegedly made unwanted sexual advances to a young intern working as his s

South Korean stocks traded 0.03 percent lower late Monday morning, led by losses in large-cap exporters, analysts said.   The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 0.49 points to 1,944.26 as of 11:20 a.m.   Hyundai Motor lost 1.06 percent, with Korea Zinc, a local major zinc smelter slumping nearly 5 percent.   In contrast, telecom and construction firms gathered ground. No. 1 mobile carrier SK Telecom surged 5.12 percent and GS Engineering & Construction rose 0.9 percent.   T

민주당은 12일 윤창중 전 청와대 대변인의 '성추행 의혹'과 이를 둘러싼 청와대 이남기 홍보수석과 윤 전 대변인의  진실공방과 관련, 허태열 비서실장을 비롯한 수석비서관들의 총사퇴와 청와대 전면개편을 주장했다.    민주당은 또 박근혜 대통령의 직접 사과를 거듭 촉구하고 국회 차원의 진상조사를 위한 청문회 개최를 새누리당에 요구했다.    박기춘 원내대표는 이날 국회에서 기자회견을 갖고 이번 사건에 대해 "초유의 국격 실추사건에서 콩가루 청와대의 국기문란사건으로 되어가고 있다"면서 "파장을 최소화해야 할 참모들이 본인의 입지만을 생각해 대통령에게 더 부담을 주는 행태를 보이고 있다"고 비판했다.    박 원내대표는 "성추행 사건의 전말뿐만 아니라 국내 도피과정도 낱낱이 밝혀져야 한다"면서 "그 조사를 민정수석에게 맡겨 놓을 수 없다"고 지적했다.    그러면서 "국회가 나서 '윤창중 성추행 사건 및 축소 은폐의혹 진상조사 청문회'를 열어야 한다"면서 "새누리당도 반대할 이유가 없다고

The main opposition Democratic Party (DP) demanded Sunday that the presidential chief of staff and all senior secretaries resign en masse to take responsibility for sexual abuse allegations involving a now-fired spokesman.   The DP also demanded that President Park Geun-hye apologize in person, and the ruling Saenuri Party agree to hold a parliamentary hearing on the case.   The former spokesman, Yoon Chang-jung, was sacked following allegations that he sexually abused his temporarily-hired secr

Samsung Electronics Co. said Sunday that it successfully developed a core technology of the fifth-generation network (5G) for the first time, aiming to enable users to access faster data services by 2020.   The new wireless technology will enable customers to access a stream of data faster than the current fourth-generation network and download an entire movie in less than a second, the world's largest smartphone maker said.   Under the new platform, users can download and upload data at speeds

The government will discuss this week whether to open duty free shops at airport arrival gates as part of efforts to boost consumption, according to government sources on Sunday. Discussions on opening duty free shops in the arrivals zone at Incheon International Airport will be one of the key agenda items for a meeting between Cheong Wa Dae and financial authorities on Tuesday, the sources said. The talks on the issue started in 2001 when the airport opened, but policymakers failed to reach an

 About 10 military officers were found to have played golf in breach of their obligation to remain close to their units in early March when tensions with North Korea were running high, a government official said Sunday.   The Office for Government Policy Coordination looked into who used the 29 military golf courses across the nation between March 5-10 after media reports sparked criticism that senior officers played golf at a time whey they were supposed to be on alert against North Korean thre

The number of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in South Korea increased by more than 10 percent over the past years, but their contribution to the nation's exports dived, data showed Sunday.   According to the data released by the Korea Federation of Small and Medium Business, 296,000 SMEs were operating here as of 2011, up 10.1 percent from 2006, with the number of their employees jumping 18.3 percent to 1.95 million.   In the same period, the number of conglomerate affiliates contract